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By Paula Pyzik Scott

Some 750+ new neighbors moved into Ada this past week. That’s the size of Ohio Northern’s Fall 2025 freshman class, the largest to enroll in the last 10 years. On move-in day, August 20, a small traffic jam at the corner of Main and College was entertained by Polar Bear welcome staff who jumped and hollered with excitement.

From the office of University President Melissa Baumann, you could hear the occasional car horns and shouts. While her calendar has a steady flow of speaking engagements and meetings year-round, faculty and staff manage the nearly zero-to-sixty transition from summer to fall semester on campus. Total enrollment at ONU is over 3,000, more than doubling the population. In fact, the State of Ohio officially recognizes that the students are not permanent residents, so that the Village doesn’t have to become a city.

Looking out her window, Baumann sees students going downtown to shop. “It makes a huge impact on the business community,” she notes.

Shy of graduation, she says, move-in day is “It’s the best day of the year. This is the start of it all.” Baumann also vividly recalls her own first day of college: “We had a 15 hour drive…. And then those first few days on campus, what it felt like.”  She says that her team is focused on “How do we make it as good as we can for those incoming students?”

On Saturday, the freshman class will spread out across the Village for ACE Day volunteer activities. “Ada Community Engagement Day” organizers invited organizations and individuals to provide activities such as painting, gardening and washing fire trucks. Baumann says she has particularly enjoyed painting the dalmations at the Ada-Liberty Fire Station.

In turn, she invites members of the community to visit campus for activities including sports, theater and music. Dial Roberson Stadium has expanded visitor seating, but you still might want to arrive early for football games, Baumann notes. If viewing from home is more your speed, ONU has signed with pay service FloFootball.com; games can be viewed for free after 48 hours.